My Grandfather

Morley Roy (Mike) Brown was born on January 22, 1921. He was the third of four sons to James Brown (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Elizabeth Lottie Whittleton (Goodwood, ON).

After grade eight, Gpa Mike started working on a farm, which was customary for his generation – we must remember that in 1934, the world was in the middle of the Great Depression. Before leaving for the War, Gpa Mike worked as a farmer on Robert Smith’s farm and drilled for wells with George Henry Harman in Ringwood. Little did he know, Mr. Harman would become his future father-in-law.

Following in the shoes of his big brother Jack, grandpa enlisted in the Army on August 21, 1941, three months following the sudden death of his mother. Another interesting coincidence is that my parents would marry 30 years later to the day: August 21, 1971.

Grandpa served 1,618 days, 1,358 of those being overseas. HIs overseas duty earned him an extra $.25 per day and a supplement of $161. 03 . For his duty, he received payment totalling $900.73.

He returned to Canada December 1, 1945 and was discharged from the Army on January 28, 1946, just six days after his 25th birthday. He returned to Mr. Harman’s farm to look for work… he would be greeted by my grandmother, only 17 at the time. They would marry on March 1, 1947, less than a month after my Grandma Betty’s 18th birthday.